History Main / JapaneseSchoolClub

* The Light Music Club from ''Manga/KOn''[[note]]which is derived from "keiongaku", which refers to light music[[/note]]. Yui was noted by Nodoka as having engaged in no after school group at all until high school, and when she did join the titular group, Nodoka initially assumed it was as a manager.
** In the beginning of the second season, the girls visit other clubs at the school in order to get ideas on how to attract new members. This includes the Judo Club, {{Go}} Club, Tea Ceremony Club, and Occult Club.

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* ''{{Manga/Saki}}'' has the mahjong clubs competing in the tournament. They range from large clubs with stiff competition for spots on the regular team to small groups of friends who make it surprisingly far in the tournament. As most of of the club presidents of the mahjong clubs are considered the leaders of their respective teams, Tsuruga Academy's Yumi stands out as the only team leader who isn't the club president. She always gets mistaken as the club president because she's more composed and organized than the actual club president, Satomi.

-->'''Nogi:''' Which club are you in?
-->'''Yuki (Yoshinori):''' The Go Home Club.
-->'''Nogi:''' Ha. The Go Home Club...! The worst kind of student... One who isn't in any club.

* ''Fanfic/ThreePointShot':, Kaede and Shuichi's group of friends is unofficially known as the Fitness Club at a few points, since the killing game takes place inside a school.

** Noboru Saruta, Megumi Tatara and Makoto Ouji are in the school music band, and they're even seen playing with their bandmates. [[http://another.wikia.com/wiki/Megumi_Tatara?file=510067-screenshot059.jpg Noboru and Makoto are the clarinet boys, while Megumi is the dark-haired flute girl.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The Kamen Rider Club is the unofficial version in ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'', their activities being "fight the Zodiarts". That is, until they get busted by one of the teachers mid-season, who proclaims that unauthorized clubs are not allowed [[spoiler:- so ''he'll'' be their advisor.]]

* ''[[VisualNovel/AmnesiaMemories Amnesia Later]]'' reveals that Ukyo was in quite a lot of school clubs because of his frequent moving and entering new schools, as well as an inability to say no. The list is pretty long and it seems like he's done pretty much every club Japanese schools had to offer -- from the cooking and debate club to various sports clubs and drama. He also admits that [[DudeLooksLikeALady his stature and long hair got him mistaken for a girl]], so he often got recruited for the ''girls' ''sports clubs, like lacrosse.

* ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial 1'' has: Saki Nijino (baseball or soccer club's CuteSportsClubManager), Nozomi Kiyokawa (swimming team), Ayako Katagiri (art club), Mio Kisaragi (DramaClub), Shiori Fujisaki (school orchestra), Yumi Saotome (basketball club), Miharu Tatebayashi (reading club), Yuina Himoo (science club) and Yukari Koshiki (tennis club). [[spoiler: The fact that Mira Kagami doesn't belong to any club turns out to be ''very'' important in her route: she ''can't'' join them because of her harsh family situation, but hides this as a part of her facade.]]

* In ''Season of the Sakura'', the main character refuses to join any club because trying to excel at every sport and be the "school hero" at his old school alienated him from his classmates; as a result, he's sworn to never join any club until he can find someone better than him. The only thing he's not good at is swimming, due to childhood trauma-induced hydrophobia that makes him FreakOut when he gets in the pool.

* The Society for the Study of the Modern Visual Culture in ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}''. In a subversion, the original ClubPresident is a seemingly powerless nonentity who barely attends. Mysteriously, he seems nearly omniscient at times; it's implied that this is because he has hidden cameras throughout the school for his nebulous research project. He never confirms or denies this, but just hinting at it is enough to blackmail Saki into joining the club.

* ''Anime/DoItYourself'' is about the "DIY Club" of Gagagata Girls' High School, a group of like-minded girls interested in everything hand-crafted like furniture, glass art and architecture. They're also incredibly short on numbers at the beginning of the show and need five members total in order to stay active.

* In ''Manga/DearBrother'' some of the Seiran High School girls are in clubs whether they go or not to the Sorority. Kaoru is the star of the baskeball team, Tomoko is a member of the cooking club, and Fukiko says she is not just the StudentCouncilPresident but also a part of both the flower arrangement ''and'' the horse riding clubs. (And we do see her in activities related to them.) Rei isn't officially in any group but she's seen helping the girls from the Drama Club in the anime [[spoiler: and used to be in the basketball team]], and Nanako ''wanted'' to join the cooking club but being pulled in the Sorority ruined these plans.

** Drama: access to gloves and masks to hide her identity.

** Gaming: a once-a-day boost to one stat of the player's choice.

** Delinquents: Not ''strictly'' a club, but will function the same. The ability to intimidate anyone at the cost of permanently lowered reputation.

** Gardening: easy access to the shed, the ability to carry gardening equipment without anyone becoming suspicious, and able to bury bodies in the garden

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* In ''Fanfic/OneYear'', [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} Yu Narukami]] takes part in his high school's drama club and befriends two of the members, before dropping out after the school play to focus on exams.
* In ''Fanfic/ThreePointShot'', Kaede and Shuichi's group of friends is unofficially known as the Fitness Club at a few points, since the killing game takes place inside a school.

** It's only tangentially mentioned in passing in the English dub, but the original Japanese version makes it very clear Koushirou was Miyako's [[SenpaiKohai respected senior]] when they were both in the same elementary school club the year prior. A certain [[AllThereInTheManual drama CD]] also mentions that the trend continued when Miyako entered middle school, as she'd joined the middle school computer club (with Koushirou as captain/president).

* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': The '''S'''preading Excitement all '''O'''ver the World with Haruhi '''S'''uzumiya Brigade, or the [[FunWithAcronyms "S.O.S. Brigade"]] (original Japanese: '''S'''ekai o '''Ō'''ini Moriageru Tame no '''S'''uzumiya Haruhi no Dan), is a deconstruction of the trope as it is not an official school club -- no advisor, no funds, and they meet in the literature club's room (The sole member of the literature club [[TheStoic doesn't mind]]). The reason for the club's conception is because Haruhi cannot find a club that suits her interests (mainly the supernatural). Later on, they become much more "relevant" to the school by offering counseling and investigation services for troubled students (most of which are set up by Itsuki to keep Haruhi preoccupied.) There's also the S.O.S. Brigade's wannabe rivals, the Computer Club, and their histrionic president.

Japanese schools' extra-curricular activities are centered on "club activities" organized by the students themselves. Each club will generally be assigned its own room or other facilities, will have an advisor (who doesn't always appear on screen), and will have a powerful president (''kaicho'') who'll be a significant character of some sort. For series that revolve around a specific club, the club's president frequently replaces the [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Student Council president]] in importance.

%%* ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates'' has the Space Yacht Club.

* ''LightNovel/BeyondTheBoundary'' has the Literature Club, which all four of the main characters are a member of. [[spoiler: The club itself was actually formed in order to keep an eye on Akihito, who is a half-human, half-youmu who becomes incredibly dangerous when he goes berserk. The club advisor and vice president actually pitch in to contain him when he goes out of control in the fourth episode.]]

* ''LightNovel/FireGirl'' revolves around the members of the Exploration Club, a club dedicated to investigating the uncharted planet Imaginary Earth.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD''. The devil Rias is the president of the Occult Research Club, which is actually a front. The club's (closed) membership is entirely her Devil servants, and she uses club time to conduct meetings with her peerage. The student council is aware of this, but they're another pack of Devils doing the same thing.

* The main character of ''LightNovel/ElegantYokaiApartmentLife'' Yushi Inaba is part of the English language club at his school. His membership in this club is the source of a lot of the plots throughout the story, and most of the people Yushi interacts with outside of the apartment are in the club.

** Among other clubs mentioned are the Gardening Club (of which there's only [[ClubStub one member]]), the Math Club, the Outer Science Club, the Art Club, the Soccer Club (no magic powers allowed), and the Magi Soccer Club (''some'' powers allowed). The Monster Studies class would like to emphasize that they ''aren't'' a club. The AltText for the panel that introduces the latter clubs notes that club participation as a whole is rather low because of the whole '{{Magical Girl}}s defending the city' thing.

** It's only tangentially mentioned in passing in the English dub, but the original Japanese version makes it very clear Koushirou was Miyako's [[SempaiKouhai respected senior]] when they were both in the same elementary school club the year prior. A certain [[AllThereInTheManual drama CD]] also mentions that the trend continued when Miyako entered middle school, as she'd joined the middle school computer club (with Koushirou as captain/president).

* Karin Sasamori from ''VisualNovel/ToHeart2'', also has a Mystery Club except that what she means by Mystery Club is similar to the [[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya SOS Brigade]].

* ''LightNovel/HensukiAreYouWillingToFallInLoveWithAPervertAsLongAsShesACutie'': Sayuki is the president of the Calligraphy Club, and Keiki joined more to keep the club afloat than out of interest in calligraphy. Yuika, Mao, and Mizuha join as well when they realize that Sayuki has an advantage in spending time with Kiryu due to being in the same club. The other members tend to use the club as a means to engage in their fetishes, though when their club is being inspected, they do perform some proper calligraphy by drawing characters related to their fetishes.

[[folder:Light Novels]]

* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': The '''S'''preading Excitement all '''O'''ver the World with Haruhi '''S'''uzumiya Brigade, or the [[FunWithAcronyms "S.O.S. Brigade"]] (original Japanese: '''S'''ekai o '''Ō'''ini Moriageru Tame no '''S'''uzumiya Haruhi no Dan), is a deconstruction of the trope as it is not an official school club -- no advisor, no funds, and they meet in the literature club's room (The sole member of the literature club [[TheStoic doesn't mind]]). The reason for the club's conception is because Haruhi cannot find a club that suits her interests (mainly the supernatural). Later on, they become much more "relevant" to the school by offering counseling and investigation services for troubled students (most of which are set up by Itsuki to keep Haruhi preoccupied.)
** Not to mention the S.O.S. Brigade's wannabe rivals, the Computer Club, and their histrionic president.

* The Yamayurikai in ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' probably falls under the {{Absurdly Powerful Student Council}}, but it's notable that several characters do double duty with other clubs. Rei is the {{Kendo Team Captain}} and Yoshino joins the kendo club in her second year. Touko is also a member of the Drama Club and while not formally a member of the Yamayurikai at the time, her agreeing to help them with their play at the SchoolFestival is a source of some conflict. The Photography Club also gets some coverage courtesy of Yumi's friend Tsutako.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/{{Another}}'', some of Kouichi's classmates are in different clubs:
** Noboru Saruta, Megumi Tatara and Makoto Ouji are in the school music band, and they're even seen playing with their bandmates. [[http://another.wikia.com/wiki/Megumi_Tatara?file=510067-screenshot059.jpg Noboru and Makoto are the clarinet boys, while Megumi is the dark-haired flute girl.]]
** Takeru Mizuno is in the basketball club.
** While Mei Misaki is [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer systematically ignored]] by her classmates [[spoiler:as a countermeasure to the Calamity]], the kids from other classrooms are okay with her. As a result, she's a member of the art club alongside Yuuya Mochizuki.
[[/folder]]

* All of the three main characters of ''Ai-Mai-Mi'' are nominally members of the Manga Club. In practice Ai is the only one who actually draws manga; the other two mostly just goof around, except when Ai forces them to help.
* ''Chu-Bra'' is about a middle school girl Nayu Hajama who starts an underwear club since she is a [[SeriousBusiness serious fan]] of lingerie. This proves controversial since most of the boys in school [[AllMenArePerverts draw the obvious conclusion]] while the head of the drama club simply dislikes both Hajama and her club. They do make friends with the manga club but the school still does not approve of the club for obvious reasons.

** Cooking: the ability to increase reputation by giving out treats, and carrying knives without anyone becoming suspicious.